SAN FRANCISCO — Eduardo Nunez arrived to AT&T Park around 6 p.m. on Friday night. Fresh out of a last-place situation with the Twins, Nunez landed comfortably atop the National League West standings. But he was unaware of his new team’s struggles, particularly the biggest one: hitting with runners in scoring position.
The newest Giant had no idea until he found himself in a team meeting. Manager Bruce Bochy fleshed out the team’s lack of timely hits, and Nunez sat there without much of the context. Just with the understanding that he was brought in to help.
“I’m going to try to keep things simple and do my game,” Nunez said. “Steal a base, get a couple hits. Anything I can do. I don’t want to change anything about my game.”
That’s precisely the game Nunez had on Saturday afternoon, leaving out one key detail. His second hit knocked in two runs with the bases loaded, drawing the Giants within a run of the Nationals and exorcising his team’s demons with runners in scoring position. It was two new faces in the Giants lineup that did much of the heavy lifting in Saturday’s 5-3 win, with Hunter Pence playing for the first time in 48 games.
The first of several ovations for the beloved Pence came in the first inning as he jogged to right field. He’s endeared himself to the fans along the right field arcade, and they greeted one another with waves and hollers. But perhaps the loudest ovation came in the second inning, moments after Pence was introduced to the AT&T Park crowd. He just missed a home run to left field, and settled for a double after almost falling down out of the box.
There was no cause for concern, Pence said, smiling, he was just a bit out in front of an offspeed pitch. He said Friday he hoped to provide the team a little boost. It took one at-bat.
“It’s no secret he’s our emotional, spiritual, whatever-you-want-to-go-with leader,” Buster Posey said. “(His return is) definitely a big boost.”
Brandon Belt followed Pence’s leadoff double with a walk, but once again, the Giants could gain no traction with runners in scoring position. The latest rally killer was actually Nunez, who popped out that inning with the bases loaded and two outs. That was his official initiation into the Giants, a team that entered Saturday with a major league-worst .147 average with runners in scoring position.
It’s a spot Nunez has succeeded in this season, to the tune of a .307 average with the Twins. So appropriately in his next opportunity, he turned around a Reynaldo Lopez fastball for a double into right-center field, sending a sold out crowd into delirium.
Brandon Crawford joked that maybe it was a good thing Nunez didn’t know of the team’s struggle with runners on base. They could be contagious. Instead Nunez administered a shot of his versatility. Using his speed to land on second base in the fourth inning, steal a base in the first and switch positions in the ninth.
“That kind of addition is just a big uplift,” Pence said. “To see that speed and power and the good at-bats, he’s an incredible ballplayer and it’s a huge addition.”
The timely plate appearances weren’t just isolated to Nunez. Joe Panik arguably had the most important one, plating the go-ahead run with a seventh-inning sacrifice fly. It was a game filled with positive moments and at-bats that the Giants have failed to string together for two weeks.
Five shutout innings from the bullpen complemented Bochy’s decision to pull Jake Peavy after four innings, a measure that eventually set up Nunez’s double. Unfamiliarity turned out to be a good thing for the Giants on Saturday. All they had been used to was unproductive at-bats, and ultimately, losing. Not on Saturday. Not with Nunez and Pence in the lineup.
“Our only goal is to win games,” Nunez said. “No matter who makes the big play or gets the big hit. I love that mentality… Just win games. I love it.”
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Denard Span didn’t run out a bunt too well in the sixth inning. He’s still nursing a sore quad, and Bochy said he and Brandon Crawford were questionable to start on Sunday. Crawford’s ailing with a bruise around his left thumb, an injury he sustained in his second at-bat on Friday.